Social Media

Some Facebook Posts Are Fair Game for Employer, Says Judge

Should you ever find yourself in the unenviable position of suing your former employer, the company can't gain "broad access" to your social media posts — but they can peek at any communications with fellow employees or posts about your job, even if sent privately on Facebook or Twitter.

That's according to a federal judge in California, who was asked to rule in a discrimination suit against Home Depot — where the big box giant wanted the court to force a former employee to turn over her social media output during the entire period she says she was discriminated against.

Specifically, the company says it wanted any photos she posted, as well as "status updates, wall comments, causes joined, groups joined, activity streams, blog entries from social-networking sites from October 2005 through the present, that reveal, refer, or relate to any emotion, feeling, or mental state of plaintiff."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal ruled that request was "impermissibly overbroad" and would result in a lot of irrelevant noise. She did, however, grant the request for any of the plaintiff's posts that discuss working at Home Depot, or messages to her fellow employees.

The plaintiff, Danielle Mailhoit, was fired from her job as manager of a Home Depot in Burbank, Calif., in 2010, following a poor performance review. Mailhoit claims she was discriminated against as a woman and because she has crippling vertigo.

Do you think employers should be allowed to access any social media postings or messages in a case like this? Give us your take in the comments.

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